


Untitled Malcolm/Hoshi fic

by cedarrapidsgirl



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: F/M, de aging
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-12-24
Updated: 2011-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-27 23:30:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/301246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cedarrapidsgirl/pseuds/cedarrapidsgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I started this in November 2010 for NaNoWriMo, and never finished it. It's still not finished, although I did edit some of it the other day after not touching it for a year. *sigh*.</p>
    </blockquote>





	Untitled Malcolm/Hoshi fic

**Author's Note:**

> I started this in November 2010 for NaNoWriMo, and never finished it. It's still not finished, although I did edit some of it the other day after not touching it for a year. *sigh*.

Malcolm Reed could definitely think of worse places to be right now. The last planet with its inhabitants that wanted to shoot first and ask questions never, random basements on a pleasure planet in your skivvies with a higher ranked officer, and of course, a Klingon dinner party. But this was definitely a much better place to be than the aforementioned.

He was in decon, which normally wasn't one of his favorite places to be. More preferred than his recent mental list, to be sure. But when he was there with Hoshi Sato, it was most definitely a better place.

Malcolm opened his eyes and smiled at the young woman sitting next to him. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing even and deep, lost in meditation. He studied her for a moment, just content to be with her. He considered himself one lucky bloke to have found a woman like Hoshi. Before he met her he'd never really thought that he would ever find “the one”.. And Malcolm had shocked himself with that thought, as it was the first time he'd really let himself think about such a long term commitment.

He inhaled sharply and brought himself back to the present, and Hoshi had picked up on his change of demeanor and was now looking at him concerned. “Are you all right, Malcolm?”

Malcolm shook his head to clear it and gave his best smile to Hoshi. “I'm fine, love, just a little bit of a sore muscle in my shoulder.” He wasn't really lying, his shoulder did hurt a little, but Malcolm didn't want to reveal the real reason behind his sudden change of behavior. At least not yet, and not in decon, of all places. Although it was a pretty sexy place at the moment.

Hoshi seemed assured by his words. “Okay, as long as you're okay.” She reached out her hand and grabbed his. They sat enjoying each others company for a few minutes until the crisp and efficient voice of Dr. Phlox came over the speaker, startling them both.

“All right, Lieutenant, Ensign, your time is up, you're both done and free to go.”

Malcolm sighed as he rose and stretched. “The Doctor always has excellent timing..he always knows just when to interrupt a romantic moment.” He waited for Hoshi to meet him at the door.

Malcolm held the now unlocked door to decon open for Hoshi and they made their way down the small hallway to the locker room. Hoshi stopped at the entrance. “You know, Malcolm, I don't have to be on duty until tomorrow, and I doubt you do as well.” She smiled at him. “So, would you like to get together later tonight?”

Reed smiled and allowed himself to indulge for a brief moment and pulled Hoshi into a tender kiss. “Of course, koishii, I would love to. I have to stop by the armory for a brief moment to check in, but after that I'm free. How about the mess hall in a half hour?”

“Sounds good, dear. I'm looking forward to it.” Hoshi blushed slightly as she pulled away from Malcolm. They parted ways to their respective sides. Malcolm had just pulled his t shirt on over his head when the ship shook violently, sending the contents of his locker falling onto him and gathering around at his feet. The whole ordeal was over in about 30 seconds, and then the vessel stabilized, and once again the constant hum of the engines was felt in the wall Malcolm was currently holding onto.

The officer wasn't reassured. He grabbed his uniform quickly and was putting his arms in the sleeves as he made it to the front of the locker room again, meeting Hoshi there who was zipping up her own jumpsuit.  
“Please tell me you felt that,” Hoshi said to him as they both walked briskly to the nearest comm panel. Malcolm just nodded as he pressed the button, but gave her arm a quick reassuring squeeze.

“Reed to the Bridge.” There was no verbal response, so he tried again. “Bridge, report!”. Once again, there was no response, only background noise. Malcolm scowled as he turned and made his way down the hallway to the lift, with Hoshi close behind.

“Malcolm, what do you think happened?” Hoshi asked worriedly.

Malcolm shook his head as they made their way up to the bridge. “I don't know, Hoshi. Everything seems to be in working order, except that the Bridge isn't responding to hails, which is a big problem.”

Hoshi was puzzled. “If I didn't know we were on a starship, I would have said we would have experienced an earthquake. I know that didn't happen, but still..”

Her words trailed off as the lift doors opened. She just stared at the scene before her. Malcolm didn't have any words either. Malcolm Reed had seen a lot of strange things in his time in Starfleet, but this was going to go into his personal log as one of the strangest.

There were children on the bridge.

They stepped onto the Bridge cautiously and looked around. There was a boy, about 7 years old with fair hair, swinging his feet at the Engineering station console. At the helm, was a dark haired dark skinned little boy, who couldn't have been more than 2 years old, fascinated with the lights and beeps coming from the station. Malcolm and Hoshi both turned their heads at the sound of an adult voice.

“May I help you?” The voice was as cool and collected as always. At the science station was T'Pol, although she was wearing an outfit he'd never seen on her before.

“T'Pol, thank goodness you're here. I don't know why you didn't respond to our hails, but, never mind that now. Do you know what happened?”

She raised an eyebrow that them. “I do not even know who you are, nor do I know 'what happened'. I am interested to know how you know me, however.” She studied them intently.

Malcolm huffed. “Bloody Hell..” he cursed under his breath. He sighed and spoke quickly. “I don't know what's going on, T'Pol, but I'll humor you. I'm Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and this is Ensign Hoshi Sato. We, along with you, are members and officers of Starfleet currently serving on the Enterprise.”

T'Pol raised an eyebrow at them, “Starfleet? Fascinating.” She looked at Malcolm and Hoshi and waited, like she expected a response. Getting none, she spoke again. “The last I remember hearing of Starfleet it was at the Vulcan Science Academy, and that was only a brief conversation with some of the Vulcan elders.” She tilted her head and studied the two again.

Malcolm raised his own eyebrows at T'Pol, then gave a quick glance around the bridge. The little boy at the helm was standing on his chair, and the one at the Engineering console was looking at some of the buttons curiously. He glanced over at Malcolm, who shook his head disapprovingly and the boy sat back in the chair and started swinging his legs again. Malcolm sighed and turned to the Ensign. “Hoshi, do you have any idea what is going on around here?”

Hoshi took a deep breath. “No, I have no idea. And it doesn't look like T'Pol's going to be much help right now either.” She really wasn't sure what to do, when she felt a tug on her sleeve. She looked down and seen the little blond haired boy at her side.

“Excuse me, ma'am, but I was wondering if you could tell me where the bathroom is, please?” He smiled at her, and Hoshi could swear that he looked familiar, but she just couldn't place it. She shook it off.

She smiled back at him. “Of course, honey. Right this way.” She led the little boy to the edge of the bridge. “Malcolm, we'll be right back, okay? We'll figure this out. Just keep an eye on the littlest one, okay?” Then they excited the bridge.

Malcolm stood there watching them for a few seconds. Then a voice spoke. “I do believe you have some one that wants your attention.” It was T'Pol. She looked down at Malcolm's feet, where the little boy that was at the helm was now at Malcolm's pants leg, looking up at him.

“Hi!” Big brown eyes looked up at him. “Up!” He reached out his arms to Malcolm. “Up!”

Malcolm was out of his league here, big time. Kids were not his strongest suit at all, and Hoshi was other wise detained. He looked down at the child and back at T'Pol, who just looked back at him. Great, he thought. She's gonna be a lot of help in this situation. Sighing yet again, he walked over to the helm and sat down, and was immediately ambushed by a squirming toddler. “Hey, there, kid, calm down! Don't worry, me and Hoshi are going to figure out what this is, I promise.” At least he hoped so, as the child stood on Malcolm's lap and took interest in his rank pips on his chest.

Hoshi and the younger boy came back onto the bridge, and she led him to the captain's chair and he sat down, looking a little scared. Hoshi sat down at her station which put her right across from Malcolm. She pushed a button and spoke. “Phlox to the bridge.” The response was instant. “On my way.” She closed the comm link and leaned in close to Malcolm. He leaned in as best he could, the child was rather fidgety. “Malcolm, that boy is Trip.”

Malcolm stared at Hoshi. “You have got to be kidding me. How is that possible? And how do you know?”

Malcolm and Hoshi looked up at the child in Archer's chair. He smiled nervously at them both, as if he knew something was wrong but not sure as to what.

Hoshi tried to keep her voice down. “I asked him his name when we came back from the bathroom. He said his name was Charles Tucker the Third, but everyone always called him Trip. He says he's 7. And he wants to know what's going on.”

Malcolm tried not to stare at the boy, who was looking a lot more scared now that both of them were studying him. “He's not the only one, believe me.” He rubbed his forehead and the toddler that was in his lap climbed down quickly and dashed over to Hoshi’s lap, snuggling in her arms, rubbing his eyes. Malcolm chuckled. “He sure is a quick little bugger. Looks like you've got a new friend. So, how did Trip get de-aged..” he did some mental math. “25 years?”

Hoshi shrugged. “I have no idea. Maybe Phlox will have a clue when he gets up here and can do scans.” Her eyes went wide with a realization . “Malcolm. I've got it. This..is Travis!” The little boy almost asleep in Hoshi's arms opened up his eyes at the mention of his name, but then finally succumbed to sleep.

Malcolm openly gaped at the realization of what was going on, trying to wrap his head around it. “And that would be why T'Pol doesn't know who we are..Yes, she's an adult, but 25 years ago she would have no idea of us or the Enterprise. It doesn't explain why she's not exactly with it, but...Hey, wait a minute. Where's the Captain?”

“I-I don't know, Malcolm.” Hoshi said.

Malcolm rose from the helm and was about to start a search of the ship when Phlox reached the bridge. It was quite a scene. Malcolm was standing by the captain's chair, with a frightened looking young boy slouched in it, and Hoshi was sitting at her usual station but holding a sleeping small child. And T'Pol was at her usual station, but she looked rather unwell.

Malcolm spoke. “Doctor, I'm glad you're here. Please start running scans on these two children, as well as Commander T'Pol. Include a DNA verification as well for everyone, please.” He strode over to the lift. “Ensign, I'm going to go look for the Captain, you stay here and assist Phlox and explain your theory to him. Maybe he can make sense of it.”

Hoshi nodded, as Phlox came over and started scanning the child still sleeping in her arms. “Malcolm?” He paused before exiting. “Be careful, Malcolm. You never know what could be out there.”

The officer's eyes softened a bit. “I'll be careful, Hoshi. I promise.” He exited the bridge.

He knew of two places the Captain would be right now.. his Ready Room or his quarters. Since the Ready Room was closer, Malcolm thought he would try there. It was only about 5 feet from the bridge, and Malcolm activated the chime and waited. There was no response. He tried again, and still, nothing. Malcolm sighed and put in the manual override code Trip just might have given him for “dire emergencies only, seriously” , and given the strange circumstances of the day, was not overly surprised to find a teenager in there, studying an old real paper book. Malcolm recognized it as one that the Captain had on a shelf over the desk.

Despite the severity of the overall situation, Malcolm was rather relieved to at least find the Captain, or at least, who would be the Captain, unharmed. He couldn't resist making at least a little joke, even if right now he was the only one who understood it.

“Jonathan Archer, I presume?”

The teen must have been deep in thought, as he looked startled by Malcolm's appearance in the room. “Yes, yes, I am. But where am I? And why is this here? This was my father's book. I don't understand.”

Malcolm could totally relate. “Trust me, I don't understand it either. But we do need to get you to the bridge to meet up with the others. Please come with me.”

The younger version of Archer stood as Malcolm gestured toward the door. “I, I don't understand, sir. The bridge of what? What's going on? Who are you?” He went with Malcolm, although he didn't look too thrilled about the prospect.

Malcolm was getting really tired of sighing, and losing his patience rather quickly. He took a deep breath as he led the Captain-well, kind of- down the short corridor. “My name is Lieutenant Malcolm Reed, and you're on the starship Enterprise. As for what's going on, well, it's complicated.” The teen did not look horribly convinced, and Malcolm couldn't say he blamed him. This was mind boggling for those on the Enterprise crew that didn't somehow randomly find themselves 25 years younger, to have to be one of those unfortunate.. Well, Malcolm didn't have time to dwell on that now. He led the young Archer onto the bridge.

All eyes turned to them as they entered. Hoshi just stared as she recognized who was their Captain. Dr. Phlox came over and started scanning the young man next to Malcolm. His voice was as calm as always. “Just as I suspected, Lieutenant, this is indeed Jonathan Archer, although as you might have surmised, he's not as quite as you know him.”

Archer looked at Malcolm nervously. Malcolm tried to be reassuring. “Sir-I mean-Jonathan-” This was going to be hard, Malcolm thought. “This is Dr. Phlox. He's one of the best, I assure you. He's going to try and figure out, along with me and Ensign Sato, who haven't been affected by whatever happened here, what did happen.” He muttered under his breath. “I'm even confusing myself.”

But Jonathan seemed mildly reassured, and looked over at the rest of the bridge. Malcolm forged on. “Just so we're straight, Doctor, these two children are Commander Tucker and Ensign Mayweather, correct?”

Phlox cleared his throat. “That is correct, Lieutenant. They are much younger versions of themselves, obviously. And as is Commander T'Pol, although given the differences in the aging process with Vulcans and Humans, it is not so easily discernible.”

They all turned to look at the Vulcan, who had been uncharacteristically quiet during this whole event so far. T'Pol looked back at them each quizzically, and then suddenly passed out at the console.

Malcolm cursed under his breath as he rushed over to the console and managed to catch the Commander's limp body and ease it to the floor as Phlox hurried over with his scanner. The bridge was quiet as Phlox scanned and read and contemplated. Finally he spoke. “She's just unconscious for the moment, but I don't like the readings on some of these levels. I need to get her down to sickbay right away for further testing...” His voice trailed off as he continued scanning.

Malcolm didn't hesitate. He quickly scooped up the unconscious T'Pol in his arms and hurried off to the lift, with the Doctor close behind, leaving Hoshi in charge of the bridge yet again, this time with three children. The toddler in her arms slept through the whole ordeal, while the young Trip stood wide eyed by the helm. Hoshi tried not to stare at the young Archer, as the way he was sitting in the Captain's chair trying to size up the situation was similar to the Archer she knew a lot better. The older one.

He caught her staring, and they held their gazes a little longer than they should have before Hoshi shook her head and looked away. “Well, this has been an..interesting day.” She didn't really know what to do, but she had to do something. “You know what? Let's go down to sickbay too. I imagine that Dr. Phlox would like to run some more scans on the rest of you as well.” She pushed a button. “Bridge to sickbay.” It was only a few seconds before a reply. “Phlox here.” “Doctor, I was wondering if we shouldn't bring the other children down to sickbay as well, to have them looked over?” There was a pause, and then the Doctor answered. “Of course, Ensign. I'll send Lieutenant Reed up to escort them down shortly.” The comm link was cut, and there was an uneasy silence on the bridge. Hoshi did a quick check of the ships systems, and everything appeared normal. As she worked, she could feel Jon's eyes on her. Hoshi didn't like that feeling at all. She didn't know exactly what it meant, but she knew it wasn't going to be easy to deal with at all.


End file.
